Chapter 4 - Wake Up Call (Amelia)

 

I’m hugging something soft and warm with my whole body. I can feel a light sheet pressing down on me, as well as a soft mattress supporting beneath me. A soft breeze blows across my otherwise naked form. I wriggle my nose and bury it further into the soft fluffiness of whatever I’m hugging.

 

I feel one of my ears twitch upwards, tracking the sounds of distant footsteps, but I don’t pay it much mind. Instead I try to remember where I am, and why I fell asleep. I feel a deep-seated sense of loneliness, but also one of fullness. 

 

I sit up too fast, and the blood rushes to my head. The resulting twinge of pain knocks me all out of sorts. I sigh in defeat and fall backwards onto the bed.

 

Suddenly I remembered my name: Amelia. And the name of my ‘other self’: Emily. 

 

Emily? I asked tentatively.

 

There was no response. 

 

Shit. I opened my eyes, and could see nothing at first but red and white floofiness. I pulled my face back and realized the big furry thing I’d been cuddling with was attached to me. I had a tail! Holy shit I had a tail.

 

Wait, if I had a tail, then did that mean I was still dreaming?

 

I sat up again and braced myself for the headache, but it was much less severe this time. As I did so bright red hair cascaded down in front of my face, obscuring my vision. I reached up to brush it aside, my arm brushing against my breast as I did so. I appeared to be in a sparsely furnished bedroom, and not one I’d ever been in before.

 

Fuck. If this was a dream I never wanted it to end.

 

I stared down at myself. There was no denying it: I was a fox girl here just like I was in my head. Only now I had red fox fur, whereas internally I was an arctic white fox. The color shift was one of the changes we made to our body to suit Emily’s needs, and I didn’t mind at all. In fact I thought our new sunset-red coat color was rather pretty.

 

Since I seemed to be alone in my head at the moment, I took some time to examine myself. My body was a little bit bigger than I was used to, but still much smaller than our previous form. That, too, had been a change to better suit Emily. I didn’t mind, which I supposed was the point. My fingernails were painted a deep purple, matching well with the soft purple blouse and black trousers I was wearing. I clenched a fist tightly, and could feel the strength in my arm. I felt powerful, more than ready to take on this dream.

 

I hopped off the bed and moved to the bathroom off to the left of the room I was in. I stared into the full length mirror I found there, my tail wagging back and forth happily as I gushed over how cute I looked. I was a four foot eleven busty red fox girl with crimson hair, a burnt-orange tail and ears, and emerald green eyes. 

 

I found a hair brush waiting for me on the sink, and decided I wanted to try using it. It was very strange to have my ears twitching about while I combed through my hair with hand and brush, but it was also incredibly calming, so I kept it up. My hair went down to my lower back, and its hue went from vibrant red around the edges to darker auburn the closer to the roots it got. 

 

I felt a twinge of awareness from elsewhere in my mind. 

 

What the hell? Emily asked.

 

Good morning cutie, I replied chipperly, I think this is a dream, but I might be wrong.

 

Since when do we dream together? Emily said confusedly.

 

Now that we’re aware of each other it’s bound to happen, I answered calmly.

 

Rather than answering, Emily took control of our body and grabbed a fistful of the hair I’d been brushing, yanking it sharply. 

 

Ouch! I yelled internally as pain shot through our system.

 

Feels pretty real to me, she supplied helpfully.

 

Ha ha, I said, but seriously, how could this be real?

 

The sorceress from last night? The goddess, the contract, all that stuff? I’m pretty sure that was real.

 

It feels waaaaaay too good to be true though, I pointed out.

 

Maybe we get to have a break just this once, she suggested.

 

As if to punctuate her statement, the door to our bedroom creaked open behind us.

 

“Amelia?” Katherine’s voiced asked softly.

 

“No way,” I said quietly.

 

Told you, Emily said. 

 

She took control of the body, and called out, “In here.”

 

“Oh good, you’re awake!” Katherine said.

 

She had her head poked inside our room, and our eyes met as we turned to look at her.

 

“Is this real?” I asked her softly.

 

She smiled widely at me. “Oh it’s real alright. C’mon, I’ll sit with you through breakfast.”

 

I stared at her as it all slowly began to sink in. Holy shit.

 

Yeah this is crazy, but it’s real, Emily said.

 

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Katherine held out her hand, and it only took a few moments’ hesitation for us to grab hold of it and allow ourselves to be tugged outside our room.

 

We went through a series of wood-paneled hallways, following the growing sound of conversation. We at last emerged in a wide cafeteria-like room. Countless soft white orbs of light lit the interior of this place from their positions floating in the ceiling overhead. Thankfully it wasn’t too terribly loud in here, my newly enhanced ears were flicking all over the place just following the din of conversation around us.  

 

“Come on,” Katherine said as she led the way towards the food counter. 

 

“Alright,” we muttered as we followed obediently in her wake. 

 

We walked down the center aisle of the room, then headed to the left to stand in line for food. I had no idea if I would be expected to pay or not, but I figured Katherine would take care of that.

 

No one stared at us, thankfully. And I quickly realized that nearly everyone in this room was a woman of one sort or another. I had heard rumors of Nightshade Tavern being a brothel, but I hadn’t put nearly enough stock into them apparently.

 

“What is this place?” I whispered to Katherine as I sidled into the line for food behind her. 

 

“This place is connected to the tavern you entered yesterday, but it’s far more than it seems as I’m sure you’ve noticed. Oh but, I’m sure Angela will want to be the one to explain it all to you.”

 

“Where is she?” we asked.

 

“We’ll be going to see her as soon as we’re done eating. You’ve got to fulfill your end of the contract now, don’t you?”

 

I had nothing against sex work, which was what I assumed we were talking about, so I nodded. Katherine grabbed us both trays as we moved further up the line.

 

“Yeah sure, I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep this,” I said.

 

Hell yeah we are, Emily agreed.

 

Katherine smiled. “I like that attitude. Do you have any idea what you might be interested in doing for the order?”

 

“What do you mean?” I asked. There was more than one option?

 

I held out my tray for a helping of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon, grinning at how easily I held the whole tray with one hand while the woman behind the counter dumped food on it.

 

You know, I’m really happy with this body, Emily said, appreciating our strength.

 

As am I, I replied, though this is just eggs and bacon.

 

“You get to choose how you support the Goddess’ Order, using whatever talents or resources you have available to you,” Katherine explained.

 

“What sort of talents do people usually, um, lend?” I asked.

 

“Some of the girls stay here as cooks, maids, prostitutes, you name it. Others live elsewhere and are just here visiting to pay their respects to the Goddess. I think you’ll find that most of us were the black sheep of the family before coming here. There are artists who paint murals or write poems to venerate and further immortalize the Goddess, architects who design wonders in her honor, priestesses who devote themselves to worshiping her directly, and many more besides.”

 

“Which are you?” we asked curiously.

 

“I’m a priestess, hence why I helped set up the ritual for you last night!” she said enthusiastically.

 

“So you worship Hekate?” I inquired.

 

“Yes! Though she has taken on many forms and many names. She was Hekate, but also Selene, Aeronwy, Ishtar, and many more besides.”

 

I followed her through the winding pathways between tables, till we found a secluded corner to eat in. She sat on the wooden bench opposite me, and we both took a moment to get settled.

 

“Thanks for bringing me here, and for helping me get to be, uh, me,” I said with a hesitant smile.

 

“Of course,” she said with a grin. “I do it all the time.”

 

We both dug into our eggs with the provided forks.

 

I was experiencing a bit of derealization, personally. I just couldn’t believe that my dream form had become reality overnight. I spent so long as just a voice in Emily’s head that wanted feminine things openly. Now I’m her partner in this new life we’re to build together, I guess. I’m so wrapped up in myself I don’t even really have time to wonder about the Goddess and Angela or anything else I’d been talking about with Katherine. 

 

“You said there are others like me around here, do they come to Nightshade often?” I asked.

 

“Oh yes, we’re gaining something of a reputation,” she replied coyly.

 

My cheeks flush red. Emily laughs at my embarrassment. 

 

“Um, so what can we expect when we go to see Angela?”

 

“Probably a lot of talking and not very much magic, which is boring,” Katherine said, “she’ll get you up to speed on the Order though, which is important.”

 

“Can you give me any tips?” I asked with a weak smile.

 

“Relax hun, you’re safe here,” she reassured. “The best tip I can give you is to just be yourself, and learn well who that is.”

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